It’s pretty clear to me that while people know, remember, and often respect the digital legacy of games, more and more players, particularly the neophytes do not. They’re accustomed to the ‘pretties’ in current games, and the old ones just look like crap by comparison. Gamers With Jobs has an interesting article exploring this idea.
“Myst was a brilliant game. So was Doom. But beyond the nostalgia, they simple do not stand as “classics” in the same sense that Prufrock does, because they must necessarily be judged against a modern sensibility. To much of the Myst experience, or the Doom experience, is delivered to eyes and ears which have now been accustomed to higher-fidelity. It is for this reason I can’t call Beowulf a “classic.” It’s a work of historic significance to be sure, but most people will only approach it through layers of translation, and still find it interesting for it’s place in the canon, not for itself. Few delve back into the 78RPM recordings of Enrico Caruso but to learn of a curious foundation — to iPod ears, the recordings are grating, belying the brilliance his voice clearly held. Similarly, comparing video games to literature is difficult because the standard the measuring stick we use for electronic entertainment is fluid, changing in both length and metric.”
I’ll admit that some of the games I loved to play as a youngster just don’t do it for me anymore. I’m not sure if I’m becoming accustomed to better graphics/sound/glitz or if like a narrower swath of games because my tastes have become more mature and refined.
Link! (Gamers With Jobs)